Driver Genius Professional Edition 2005, by Driver-Soft, is a program that caught my eye because it's fairly unique. There are many programs that will backup your computer, but this program focuses specifically on device drivers. Device drivers are files that tell a device like a printer, modem, scanner and so on, how to work.

Many computer users don't realize the importance of device drivers or of keeping the ones on your computer up-to-date. Driver Genius Professional Edition 2005 is really slick in the way it works. To begin with, it not only manages all of your device drivers, but it can also perform diagnostics on your computer. Fire it up and it can backup all of your device drivers. Another neat feature is that it can go out and look for updates of your existing device drivers. That's a great way to keep all your devices running at their best.

The program also has the ability to not only backup all of your device drivers, but to put them in a self-extracting EXE file. Some of you may say "So what?" Well, here's what. If you should have a crash and have to reinstall everything on your computer, you might have to search for floppy disks and CDs that have the device drivers. But with a self-extracting EXE that contains all your device drivers, you can restore them all with just a couple of mouse clicks. Very cool!

Driver Genius Professional Edition 2005 is designed to do a task and to do it well, and I'd say it succeeds. The company keeps an online database of device drivers for video cards, modems, motherboards, network cards, cameras and lots more. In testing it out it even found a device driver for me that previously I couldn't find. Impressive. This is the kind of program that can help you to keep your computer running smoothly and at peak performance. Very nicely done -- you owe it to yourself to give it a try, I recommend it!

PC ADVISER Review

Second only to the broken PC advice 'turn it off and back on again' is 'install the latest drivers' - Driver Genius makes this easy. It's amazing how many, often obscure, PC problems can be cured by downloading and installing updated drivers. These bits of software which make the hardware work may be for components on the mainboard of your PC, for expansion cards or for plug-in peripherals, like external drives or TV tuners.

It's perfectly possible to visit all the relevant hardware sites and search there for the latest supporting software, of course, but its also perfectly possible you have more interesting things to do. That's where Driver Genius comes in.
Driver Genius automates the process, by searching through your PC and identifying all the hardware drivers you have installed. It then visits the relevant sites, checks if there are more recent versions and offers to download and install them for you. It doesn't do this fully automatically and you still have to run through each individual driver install routine, but at least you then know what you're installing and can make appropriate choices.

We ran Driver Genius on a test PC and it started by sensibly creating a Windows restore point. It then detected four sets of drivers which weren't up to date: for the display, the RAID array, the TV tuner and the Intel chipset. Each download and installation went smoothly, though at the end we couldn't detect any immediate speed improvement or smoother running. Although this would be a bonus, the main reason for keeping drivers up to date is to stop unexpected glitches in your PC.

Driver Genius now includes extra features to simplify the process. It includes a scheduler, so you can set up a regular scan at a convenient time, rather than sticking a Post-It reminder on your screen. You can also get the program to pop up notifications when it's downloaded new drivers and needs to install them. Finally, you can set the program to remove outdated versions of drivers, to reduce the clutter in your Downloads folder, or wherever you store them.

Back that thing up--Softpedia Review

You're messing around with a tweaking program or just deleting some files you thought were unimportant and then BAM. You've made a specific change that affects one of your hardware drivers. It's been known to happen. But here's where you feel really foolish, you've lost the CD with the appropriate drivers so you have to search the net.

You might find it, or you might not, but with Driver Genius Pro, you can save yourself this hassle if you just back up what you already have. Let's see if Driver Genius stands up to Softpedia's review process.

What's Inside

On the install, I chose to go with the full options which included the NVIDIA driver tweak and the system info tool to get the full feel of the product.

The interface is very straightforward and easy to follow. It's a dual window pane with an explorer like view of your drivers on the left and a description of them on the right. If you don't like this view, you can go straight into a 'Wizard' mode that takes you through any specified 'restore' or 'backup' mode. If you thought the normal interface was easy, the Wizard will be a walk in the park.

I liked Driver Genius' option of using the antivirus software on my machine to immediately scan for viruses after it backs up any driver. I think this is definitely an easy and practical tool to have, by ensuring virus free backups, you don't have to worry about going online and downloading potentially dangerous and harmful drivers.

You can backup your drivers into the default setting
(which backs them up in typical folders) or you can back them up in other formats as well. If you want to save some space, you can back it up in ZIP format or into an auto-installing or self extracting .EXE format.

Another useful function is the "Live Update". This is a quick and easy way to see which drivers that you have installed on your system need updating. Driver Genius logs onto its very own drivers information database and gives you the latest details of potential updates. From there you can click on your 'Update' button and it will give you the latest necessary drivers that you might not have on your machine.

All-in-all, Driver Genius does what it says it can do. I didn't really run into any problems with the interface or the actual backup/restore. This program's got over 30,000 hardware records and my computer was built of hardware that was within its parameters. The things that bugged me a little though were the limitations that were set on the trial version (it only restores the display adapters driver and network adapters driver among other things).

The Good

Driver Genius has a very easy interface and an even easier to follow Wizard. It has 30,000 hardware records with available updates for a lot of your driver needs. It'll save you time and effort if you take the time to backup your existing drivers. Supports Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/2003.

The Bad

I wish it offered more in the trial version, but I can understand that it wants to actually see a profit. I can't really say for sure how everything reacts if I can't test out all the aspects.

The Truth

This is a nifty little tool to have in your inventory. It'll definitely save you time when you have to go find those drivers, it'll also save you some hassles of making sure that they're clean. Give Driver Genius a chance, but don't expect too much in the trial version since it can't offer all of its more useful services, just most of them.

This program will help computer users get the exact drivers they need quickly and easily.Drivers are often lost or damaged, and manually finding and installing them can be quite a hassle. This is where driver update software can really help make your life easier.The drivers in your computer provide the interface through which your operating system communicates with hardware and peripherals such as your keyboard, mouse, monitor, video card, printer, scanner, and more. These drivers are constantly being updated by their respective manufacturers to improve compatibility, performance, and stability. Having the most up to date drivers can markedly improve the performance of your computer.

Interface——Driver Genius's interface is very clean and well thought out. Navigation is made simple by easy to read menus and buttons. The display is a dual-pane Window reminicent of Windows explorer or other similar programs, so most people will be able to jump right in. I like the fact that this program is not bloated with excess options or graphics, and runs fast on any computer.

Ease Of Use——Driver Genius can be used by just about anyone, even those without lots of computer expertise. If you're confused in any way there is a Wizard which walks you through the update process step by step. One great thing about this program is that it includes excellent help files and documentation. This kind of documentation is often lacking in these sorts of maintenance programs. The scan is quick, and you're able to download the lastest drivers database in just a few moments. This program definitely takes the guesswork out of updating your drivers. Driver Genius allows you to update the drivers all at once or one at a time.

Features——Driver Genius has a pool of over 30,000 drivers from which to ugrade your computer. Drivers for most computer hardware and peripherals are included. Updates to Driver Genius' own database of drivers are automatically monitored and updated as necessary.One of the best features of this program is the ability to easily backup and restore drivers. This makes it very easy to get your computer up to date after re-installing Windows. Advanced users can make the backups in several different formats, including ZIP archives, self-extracting archives, and an auto installer.The restore process is very easy, usually only taking a few clicks.Driver Genius also comes with language support for Arabic, Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Hungarian, Norwegian, and Spanish.

Conclusions——Driver Genius is an excellent program that definitely takes the hassle and difficulty out of updating system drivers. If you're in the process of updating your system, or are thinking of clearing your PC for a clean Windows re-installation, then it's highly recommended that you grab a copy of Driver Genius to help make your life easier.

TechReviews Review

Driver Genius had certainly impressed me with its ability to download and manage all of your drivers. Also, with the ability to back-up, restore and remove, it is the ultimate program for managing your computer hardware’s problems and fixing them.

Detects and solves driver problems

Removes invalid drivers

Synchronizes drivers with database

Over Clocking and other functions for supported NVIDIA graphics cards

Reliable

Easy to use

Good Price

As your can specify when it updates the drivers, your computer should stay up-to-date for a very long time.

From the evidence shown, I cannot fault the software. It doesn’t seem to have any bugs or locations that don’t work properly either. Driver Genius deserves the editor’s choice award for its brilliance in speeding up slow computers.

Practical PC 0nline Review

Driver problems? Driver Genius could solve them all. Ian Waugh takes it for a ride...

If you tinker with your PC, adding new bits and pieces, you'll know how important it is to have solid drivers. Even older equipment can benefit significantly if newer drivers are released for it. However, unless you regularly search for updates on all the manufacturers' sites, trying to keep track of driver updates is almost impossible.

Driver Genius is essentially a one-stop shop for managing and updating the drivers in your system. It has a database of over 30,000 drivers for motherboards, sound cards, video cards, network cards, modems, mice, keyboards, scanners, printers, and various other digital devices.

The first step, naturally, is to backup your existing drivers. Using the latest drivers for a device can greatly improve its performance but you need to be able to revert to the previous driver just in case something goes wrong.The program detects all the drivers in your system and can Zip them or create an auto-installer. This allows you to re-install all the drivers with just one click and is perfect if you re-install Windows, for example, as you can easily re-install all the drivers in one go.

Diagnose this
The program includes a Device Diagnostics feature that shows the status of all the devices in your system and reports whether or not it's working, rather like Windows'

Device Manager.
The Update Drivers feature searches for device drivers for your system. You can elect not to update specific drivers if you wish. After selection, updated drivers will be downloaded and appear in the list with a green tick next to them.

Right-click on a driver to open it and install it. The installation isn't automatic as you do need to run the driver file. Sometimes this installs a driver directly, other times it may run a setup program.

The process is generally quick and easy and far simpler than manually updating individual drivers.

A Download Manager lets you review the drivers and resume downloads. This worked well and we were grateful for the Resume Download feature as the program kept stopping the download of a large ATI display driver file. In fact we had to restart this several dozen times to get the full file.

We also experienced another download hiccup. A LiveUpdate feature downloads the latest version of the driver database and main program but on our system, it said it couldn't retrieve the update list and asked if we were connected to the Internet. Which we certainly were. However, the update downloaded just fine on another occasion.The pack also includes an Nvidia Driver Tweak program for tweaking the settings of Nvidia graphics cards such as enabling fan control and thermal settings, and accessing hidden options.

Conclusion
If you've ever had trouble with a card or other device and thought the problem might be related to the driver, you'll appreciate the, er, genius, of Driver Genius. Even if you don't make a point of updating system components regularly, updating existing drivers could improve performance and if you've had your PC for any length of time, it could be worth seeing if new drivers are available as the developers may have ironed out bugs and improved performance.

If you have more than one PC, Driver Genius could be a most worthwhile investment to help you keep them running well but note that the license agreement limits its use to two computers which is a little restrictive we think. But as a one-stop-shop for keeping your drivers up to date, it's an excellent investment.

User Feedback

A Softpedia.com User Comment:This program worked like a dream for me. Saves many hours updating drivers. Definitly one to keep 5/5.

Another Softpedia.com User Comment:Works like a charm. Reinstalled windows and then restored all my drivers in one go with this.
Time spent: Clean installation of WIN7 from usb: 15min.
Reinstalling drivers with Driver Genius: 15 min. That's 30 min for a clean installation with all drivers in place! Nifty lil program, definitely a keeper.

Another Softpedia.com User Comment:
This is a great software . I do not understand the reviewer's point in what speed of back-ups is a concern, as in my system is lightning fast. Also the database update is very fast in my system. It does a great work on back-up , update and instalation of drivers, and I do not think price is a concern, it is worth it. I have tested other similar paid and free software and none of those are as fast and reliable as Drivergenius.

A Softnic.com User Comment:

After several PC problems on my old XP single core PC I was advised to update my chip set drivers, network card drivers, graphic card drivers and a couple of others that I can't even understand. So after searching the internet for each one I realized that I had no clue to install them. So I then searched for a program to do this for me and viola ! Driver Genius! I downloaded successfully and then did my 1st scan only to find out 31 drivers were corrupt or out of date and that if i wanted to fix them I would have to pay, but it was worth it. Anyway, sorted my PC out after putting in registration code and got all my drivers up to date. Now it's not very easy you do have to think a little after the initial download of the driver to get them installed but if you follow the prompts then you should be fine. Happy computing.

A Softnic.com User Comment:

Driver Genius,will with i click tell you what drivers need to be updated,this is cridual for your cpu to run at its most and best,you need to do this on a regular task,just like your anti-virus and spyware. a must for all ,I remmentend this to all my friends and more

An Avanquest User Comment:

i would like to tell you how fantastic this software is,it is so easy to use,and save you a lot of time looking for every update.i am waiting for the newer version to buy it again. Trust me do not hesitate to buy this software.i have been using this software for at least 3 years,and i will keep using it. good luck!

Another Avanquest User Comment:

Brought this product after upgrading to windows 7 to make sure I had the latest drivers, was easy to install and use. Download speeds are excellent with fantastic results, makes installing the drivers easy also!
Great product!